I am willing to bet 95% of the "Hackers" here that code in C++ couldn't code anything else from scratch without Google and/or reading tutorials. I say this because I see alot of people talk about what language they code in and how good at that language they. When in fact its not the language that makes the coder, is knowledge of the system they intend to write the program for. Example would be good knowledge of the Windows API's if coding in windows and how to use these for your programs. the other 5% would have the knowledge of using these API's and C++ inbuilt functions to create apps other than hacks, but even the best coders don't remember all the API's and C++ functions windows have to offer the coder. As for hacks I have only seen a hand full of "hackers" here able to create there hacks from scratch, but even they needed to look through bases and learn about the basic before they got to that stage. I myself needed to read through bases to get the basics down, once you know the basic's it shouldn't matter what language you choose to code the hack in, As I have proven with Delphi.

So yeah your idea kinda sucks because it stops the new users from learning anything. I think instead of full blown source codes released it would be much more beneficial for the users to read tutorials on different parts and aspects of game hacks, this also means they need to do some leg work by reading the tutorials and actually writing something in C++, Doing this will ensure they are actually learning and not leeching. The problem isn't the noobs C+Ping, its the coder wanting to get a name for them self's by releasing recycled coded and claiming browning points for it(A.K.A Rep). It very easy to see if someone has coded the whole project by them self's or not because there is always a coding style to there work which is consistent through out the project. I have yet to see a base which has a consistent coding style throughout the project....

How can you call yourself a military commander if you're using old battle tactics derived from Hitler? How can you call yourself a game developer if you're basing off your game from other games such as Pong, Donkey Kong, Counter Strike, etc. How can you call yourself a writer if you're writing is inspired from Harry Potter or something...

Re-inventing the wheel, while it can be a great educational experience as well as achieving new features/ideas; it is not very practical for everyone. I'm not saying that building from scratch is a bad idea, not at all I love to do it all the time as it is fun, educational, and you feel good about it.

But deriving your work from other people again can expedite the development time. If people can make the hack making process from 12 hours to like 2, everyone would do it that way. It's faster, more efficient, and benefits the community. If you want to slow it down, you might as well tell them to recreate the OS, make a debugger from scratch and use your own OS's APIs, and then find the Addies.

Doing the work yourself is great, but saving time IMO is even better most of the time.

Your comparisons don't aid your argument at all. Re-inventing the wheel would indicate there was a wheel there to begin with, also known as a concept/idea/etc. In all three examples the person in question has merely used an idea or a concept to derive their own application of it. Your examples would make sense if the developer was using the SOURCE of Donkey Kong / CS to modify slightly and claim their own game, or the writer blatantly plagiarized JK Rowling.

Building upon older concepts is always going to happen, whether you start from scratch or not, an idea will always influence your actions.

I've always been of the opinion that the majority of a program should be your own unique work. Using existing programs to interface with various components is fine, and as you say it cuts down development time substantially; creating a large program completely from scratch when existing interfaces exist for certain aspects of the program is foolish. That being said, the main backbone on the program should be written by you, otherwise it's not even your program, it's just a combination of existing interfaces none of which are yours.

That's why I dislike people that use existing bases for Combat Arms, right then and there 90% of the programming has been done by someone else. Using some classes/functions from existing bases is fine as it saves time figuring out shit like complex math for 3D vectors and crap, but taking an entire base and updating it isn't coding.

Originally Posted by Jeremy S. Anderson

There are only two things to come out of Berkley, Unix and LSD,
and I don’t think this is a coincidence